“Emergencies have always been necessary to progress. It was darkness which produced the lamp. It was fog that produced the compass. It was hunger that drove us to exploration. And it took a depression to teach us the real value of a job.”

French novelist and playwright of the Romantic era, Victor Hugo is best known for his sweeping historical novels and passionate advocacy for social justice. His works like *Les Misérables* and *The Hunchback of Notre-Dame* explore human suffering and resilience, while his political essays championed abolition and democratic reform.